Endoscopic Vein and Artery Removal

Endoscopic Vein Removal

Until recently, one of the greatest physical discomforts of coronary bypass surgery was a large incision in a patient's leg to harvest healthy veins for reuse as new heart vessels during surgery.  Today, using a small instrument called an endoscope, our surgeons  can avoid these large incisions. The new procedure (involving one or two incisions of less than one inch) reduces pain and infection rates and lessens the number of stitches.

Endoscopic Artery Removal

At times, during bypass surgery, it is preferred or necessary (due to previous vein-stripping procedures) to obtain a segment of artery to use as a new heart vessel. As with endoscopic vein harvesting, it is now possible to remove an artery using the endoscope. Using an endoscope for artery harvesting reduces infection rates and lessens the number of stitches a patient receives from an average of 50 to two or less.